Half the group quitting early last month is a big sign the book itself might be the problem. When you force a finish, you lose the chance to ask why it lost people. Isn't that more important to talk about than who turned the last page. A rule that makes people sit through a book they hate just builds resentment, not good chat. Let people drop it and then really dig into why it didn't work for them. You get a much more honest and lively talk that way.

Tech exorcisms are just cable management.

All day on screens? That's like a full-time job just looking at pixels. No wonder your brain gets weird.

Tell me about it. A link in a chat just gets a quick glance, but holding a print made you stop and actually look at the details together. That whole experience of sharing something real is what's gone.

Reading this makes my old offshore gig seem like a bad joke. We got sold on the big checks but forgot to mention the 12-hour shifts in freezing rain. My savings took a hit similar to your pension, just with more regrets.